Lina Meruane Boza (born 1970) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an writer and professor. Her work, written in Spanish, has been translated into 12 languages --English, Italian, Portuguese, German, French and Arabic, among others. In 2011 she won the

Anna Seghers-Preis Anna Seghers Preis is a literary prize of Germany. The prize goes back to the German writer Anna Seghers (1900–1983), who stated in her testament that the revenues from her work should be used to encourage promising young writers. The award is ...

for the quality of her work, in 2012 the

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize The Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize (''Premio Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz'') is a literary prize awarded to a book written in Spanish by a female author. It is organized by the Guadalajara International Book Fair, based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, M ...

for her novel ''Sangre en el ojo''. And, in 2023, the prestigious Premio Iberoamericano de Letras Jose Donoso

Biography

Born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Chile, Lina Meruane is of

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent. She is the niece of actress

Nelly Meruane Nelly Lucinda Consuelo Meruane Solano (20 December 1927 – 20 June 2018) was a distinguished Chilean actress and teacher whose career spanned 65 years. For 20 years she was a member of the stable cast of the of the Pontifical Catholic Univers ...

and comedian

Ricardo Meruane César Ricardo Meruane Meruane (Santiago de Chile, December 7, 1956) is a Chilean humorist and wood worker of Palestinian origin. His 2016 " noctule" joke went viral in 2024. Biography He was born in 1956, being one of the nine children of the ...

. She started writing as a storyteller and cultural journalist. In 1997 she received a writing grant from the (FONDART) to finish her first book of stories. The following year she published ''Las infantas'', a book that received a very positive critique from Chilean reviewers, as well as writer

Roberto Bolaño Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footb ...

: Meruane published two novels before leaving for New York to do her doctorate studies in Spanish-American literature at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. In the United States she received a

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

from the Guggenheim Foundation in 2004 (for the novel ''Fruta Podrida''), and another in 2010 from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

(for ''Sangre en el ojo''). In 2011 she received the Anna Seghers-Preis, and the following year she won the 20th Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award for ''Sangre en el ojo'', during the

Guadalajara International Book Fair The Guadalajara International Book Fair, better known as the FIL (from its Spanish name: ) is the largest book fair in the Americas, and second-largest book fair in the world after Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt's. It is also considered the most i ...

, with a jury made up of the writers

Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro (born 29 October 1970) is a Puerto Rican novelist, short-story writer and essayist. Biography Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro was born on 29 October 1970 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and was raised by her grandparents, Petronila Car ...

Antonio Ortuño Antonio Ortuño (Guadalajara, 1976) is a Mexican novelist and short story writer. Ortuño is the author of the novels ''El buscador de cabezas'' (2006) and ''Recursos humanos'' (2007), finalist of the Herralde Prize. He also published the short st ...

, and

Cristina Rivera Garza Cristina Rivera Garza (born October 1, 1964) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Mexican author and professor known for her fiction and memoir. Multiple novels, including ''Nadie me verá llorar'' (''No One Will See Me Cry''), received Mexico’s highest ...

. She currently teaches at the MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish at New York University.

Works

Short stories

* ''Las infantas'', Planeta, Santiago, Chile, 1998 (Eterna Cadencia, Argentina, 2010), * ''Avidez'', Paginas de Espuma, Spain, 2024

Novels translated into English

*''Seeing Red'' translated by Megan McDowell, Deep Vellum, USA (Atlantic Books, UK, 2016), ; original edition ''Sangre en el ojo'' *''Nervous System'' translated by Megan McDowell, Graywolf, USA, 2021 (Atlantic Books, UK, 2021); original edition ''Sistema Nervioso''

Novels in original Spanish

* ''Póstuma'', Planeta, Santiago, 2000 (Oficina Do Livro, Portugal, 2001) * ''Cercada'', Cuarto Propio, Santiago, 2000 (Cuneta Editores, Santiago, 2014 with prologue by Lorena Amaro) * ''Fruta podrida'', Fondo de Cultura Económica, Santiago, 2007 (Eterna Cadencia, 2015), * ''Sangre en el ojo'', Caballo de Troya, Spain, 2012 (Penguin Random House, 2015) * ''Sistema Nervioso'', Penguin Random House, Chile & Spain, 2019

Drama

* ''Un lugar donde caerse muerta / Not a leg to stand on'', dramatic adaptation of the novel ''Fruta podrida'' by the author and the Chilean theater director Martín Balmaceda; bilingual edition with prologue by Guillermo Calderón and English translation by Sarah Thomas, Diaz Grey Editores, 2012 (Trópico Sur, Uruguay, 2013)

Nonfiction

* ''Viral Voyages. Tracing AIDS in Latin America'', translated by Andrea Rosenberg, Palgrave MacMillan, 2014, ; original edition ''Viajes virales: la crisis del contagio global en la escritura del sida'', essay, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Santiago 2012, * ''Volverse palestina'', chronicle, Literal Publishing, USA / Conaculta, Mexico, 2013, * ''Palestina en Pedazos'', chronicle/personal essay; Literatura Random House, Santiago, 2021 * ''Contra los hijos'', essay-diatribe, Tumbona, Mexico, 2014, and Penguin Random House, 2018 * ''Zona Ciega'', essay, Penguin Random House, 2021 * ''Coloquio de las quiltras'', essay, Debate, 2024

Visual essays

* ''Cinco personas en busca de su personaje'', ongoing project, first part directed by Luciano Piazza

In English language journals

''Two Lines'' (California), ''

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

'' (New York), ''

The Literary Review ''The Literary Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1957. Publication was suspended in 2022, and the website notes: "Given the extenuating circumstances and the impact of Covid-19 on institutions of higher education, we do not ...

'' (New York), ''Brick'' (Canada), ''N+1'' (New York), ''Words without Borders'' (New York), ''Drunken Boat'' (US), ''The White Review'' (UK), ''Litro Magazine'' (UK), ''Brown Book'' (Arab Emirates), ''Asymptote'' (US), among others in several languages.

Grants and awards

* 1997: Grant. National Council for the Arts, FONDART, Chile, for ''Las Infantas'' (

National Council of Culture and the Arts The National Council of Culture and the Arts (CNCA) was the Chilean government agency responsible for arts and cultural policy. The council was founded in 2003 and amalgamated arts and cultural policy under a single agency. It was a cabinet-level ...

) * 2004: Grant. John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Latin American and Caribbean Fellowship for ''Fruta podrida'' * 2006: Award. Best Unpublished Novel, for ''Fruta podrida'' (

) * 2010: Grant. National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, for ''Seeing Red''. * 2011: Award.

, por her literary work * 2012: Award.

, for ''Sangre en el ojo'' * 2015: Award. Institute of Chilean-Arab Culture Award, for ''Volverse Palestina'' * 2015: Award. Cálamo Another Look, for ''Fruta podrida'' (

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

) * 2017: Grant. Artists-in-Berlin Program, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service; for ''Sistema Nervioso''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meruane, Lina 1970 births 20th-century Chilean women writers 21st-century Chilean women writers Chilean educators 21st-century Chilean women educators 21st-century Chilean novelists Chilean people of Italian descent Chilean people of Palestinian descent 20th-century Chilean short story writers Chilean women short story writers Living people New York University alumni New York University faculty National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Writers from Santiago, Chile Chilean expatriates in the United States Chilean women novelists Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize winners